Palestinians have a right to resist the occupation, BDS.

Palestinians have a right to resist the Israeli occupation, including the illegal and brutal 11-year blockade of Gaza. The living situation for the 2 million Palestinians in Gaza is terrible and getting worse.

We stand in solidarity with the Great March of Return protestors who every Friday assemble at the fence and demand equal human rights with the Israelis on the other side. These young people refuse to be trapped in the open air prison created by the Israeli government and abetted by the Egyptian dictatorship. They refuse to be refugees forever.

Rocket attacks against civilians are illegal and ineffective. There is no military solution for Palestinians. Israel – backed by massive funding from the USA – has overwhelming conventional dominance. Israeli civilians – like Palestinian civilians – must never be targeted. Despite this legal prohibition, civilians in Gaza have repeatedly been attacked by the Israeli army, with about 1,500 killed in Israel’s 7-week bombardment of Gaza in 2014.

The refusal of Palestinians to meekly play the part of the conquered, by protesting for equality and dignity, whether in Gaza, the West Bank or increasingly within Israel, is inevitable. Palestinians have never accepted the cruel deal imposed on them in 1947-48. They have always resisted the occupation and the stunting of their lives and those of their children.

Our solidarity through peaceful, targeted, determined BDS campaigning is removing the cloak of legitimacy that once allowed the Israeli state to promote the myth that Palestinians did not exist and that Israel was a normal society. Social media allows Palestinians at home and throughout the diaspora to speak for themselves and demand the right to return home.

With Israeli elections just weeks away it suits Netanyahu to be seen as a strongman. But whichever chauvinist wins the election the situation for Palestinians will remain desperate and international solidarity remains vital.

We urge people to join Land Day rallies on this Saturday 30 March to commemorate the first anniversary of the beginning of the Great March of Return actions in Gaza.